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IMDbPro

Past Lives

  • 2023
  • PG-13
  • 1h 45m
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
139K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
545
1
Teo Yoo and Greta Lee in Past Lives (2023)
Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrest apart after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. 20 years later, they are reunited for one fateful week as they confront notions of love and destiny.
Play trailer2:26
13 Videos
99+ Photos
Korean DramaDramaRomance

Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrested apart after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. Twenty years later, they are reunited for one fateful week as the... Read allNora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrested apart after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. Twenty years later, they are reunited for one fateful week as they confront notions of love and destiny.Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrested apart after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. Twenty years later, they are reunited for one fateful week as they confront notions of love and destiny.

  • Director
    • Celine Song
  • Writer
    • Celine Song
  • Stars
    • Greta Lee
    • Teo Yoo
    • John Magaro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.8/10
    139K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    545
    1
    • Director
      • Celine Song
    • Writer
      • Celine Song
    • Stars
      • Greta Lee
      • Teo Yoo
      • John Magaro
    • 519User reviews
    • 278Critic reviews
    • 94Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 2 Oscars
      • 81 wins & 232 nominations total

    Videos13

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:26
    Official Trailer
    Past Lives
    Trailer 2:25
    Past Lives
    Past Lives
    Trailer 2:25
    Past Lives
    IMDb Celebrates ReFrame Films That Champion Gender Equity on Set
    Clip 2:01
    IMDb Celebrates ReFrame Films That Champion Gender Equity on Set
    Oscars 2024 Best Picture Nominees
    Clip 1:42
    Oscars 2024 Best Picture Nominees
    All About Celine Song
    Clip 1:36
    All About Celine Song
    Greta Lee Gets Emotional Discussing Her Life-Changing Role in 'Past Lives'
    Clip 1:58
    Greta Lee Gets Emotional Discussing Her Life-Changing Role in 'Past Lives'

    Photos156

    View Poster
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    + 152
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    Top cast35

    Edit
    Greta Lee
    Greta Lee
    • Nora
    Teo Yoo
    Teo Yoo
    • Hae Sung
    John Magaro
    John Magaro
    • Arthur
    Moon Seung-ah
    Moon Seung-ah
    • Young Nora
    Leem Seung-min
    • Young Hae Sung
    Yun Ji-hye
    Yun Ji-hye
    • Nora's Mom
    Choi Won-young
    Choi Won-young
    • Nora's Dad
    Ahn Min-yeong
    • Hae Sung's Mom
    Seo Yeon-Woo
    • Young Si Young
    Kiha Chang
    • Hae Sung's Friend #1
    Shin Hee-Chul
    • Hae Sung's Friend #2
    Jun Hyuk Park
    • Hae Sung's Friend #3
    Jack Alberts
    Jack Alberts
    • CBP Officer
    Jane Kim
    Jane Kim
    • Actress
    Noo Ri Song
    • Na Young's Childhood Friend 1
    Si Ah Jin
    • Na Young's Childhood Friend 2
    Yoon Seo Choi
    • Na Young's Childhood Friend 3
    Hwang Seung-eon
    • Hae-sung's Girlfriend
    • Director
      • Celine Song
    • Writer
      • Celine Song
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      In an interview on 2 June 2023 on NPR with Ailsa Chang, Greta Lee indicated that she found it amusing that when she told her family and friends that she was taking this role, many of them were surprised and wondered if she could even speak Korean.
    • Goofs
      When the protagonist's family arrives at Canadian immigration, a French-language government sign reads "loresque" (instead of, correctly, "lorsque.")
    • Quotes

      Hae Sung: What if this is a past life as well, and we are already something else to each other in our next life? Who do you think we are then?

    • Connections
      Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Best Movies of 2023 (2023)
    • Soundtracks
      It's Not Love If It Hurts Too Much
      Written by Kim Kwang Seok

      Performed by Kim Kwang Seok

      Courtesy of STARWEAVE Entertainment

      By arrangement with Ingrooves Music Group

    User reviews519

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    9/10

    Fragile Longing

    The wind, the leaves, the streets, the towers; everything exists with a supple glow. There's a love for environment behind the camera, where director Celine Song stands, telling her story. Kirchner, her cinematographer, lends immense craft to the film's 35mm scenery. Nora, Hae Sung, Arthur; the three central characters are handled with wonderful grace. They easily communicate complex emotion. They're likable, and they're relatable. New York City, Seoul; I hardly know either of them practically, but now I feel like I do, in some intimate way. These two cities are dearly loved. Longing; what did you think of when you finished this film?

    Past Lives is an honest, delicate, and ambling movie. Nora, once a little girl from urban Korea, chooses her path as an American writer after immigrating with her family. She marries a different writer (Arthur, a Jewish New Yorker), adopts the culture of NYC, and chases her ambition. She's still Korean, but the identity ebbs. She doesn't sound like it anymore. Hae Sung, her childhood friend who never left the country, is very much Korean; his path is that of an engineer living with his parents, which he describes as ordinary. He loves Nora deeply. He loved her when she left Seoul at twelve, and loved her still at the points in which their lives intersected. Nora loves him too, in her own complicated, almost grieving way. He is her connection to a childhood she longs for, washed away in her memories, and seldom revisited because of the complicated feelings that come with being a child immigrant.

    The story is simple but it bursts at the seams with emotion and humor. Admittedly slow, but without wasting your time. I connected with all three of the main characters to some degree, each carried by an actor with the apparent gravity of a veteran superstar. They are emotionally intelligent, and they react to each other in interesting, startlingly realistic ways. Celine Song plays on a very specific feeling of aching; for a forgotten time in one's life, for an identity, or for a lover. It's particular, but looking around the audience as we left the theater, you could see that most people were in their own heads, thinking of something (or someone). We all long for something lost.

    Perhaps not all of us, but probably most, have also wrestled with the feeling of permanence in the journey we choose for ourselves. You only live once, said Drake, but that's really a terrifying thought sometimes. Carving out one lifetime - engineered across thousands of individual decisions - means foregoing an infinite number of others. People deal with this in a number of ways; providence, reincarnation, and an afterlife, to name a few. Nora and Hae Sung might be soulmates, but will they know it in this lifetime, or the next?

    I really can't wait for the next project Song works on, and that goes double for the cast. I sunk my teeth into this deeply romantic, deeply resonant film, which is capable of bringing immense longing to the surface. It is coated with a beautiful score and draped atop memorable settings. It's a home-run.

    9/10 for making me want to visit Seoul.
    • aweynand96
    • Jul 6, 2023
    • Permalink

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    FAQ19

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 23, 2023 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • South Korea
    • Official site
      • primevideo
    • Languages
      • Korean
      • English
      • Mandarin
      • French
    • Also known as
      • Vidas pasadas
    • Filming locations
      • Madison Square Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA(Nora and Hae Sung Meet in New York)
    • Production companies
      • A24
      • CJ ENM Co.
      • Killer Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $12,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $11,185,625
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $232,266
      • Jun 4, 2023
    • Gross worldwide
      • $42,528,586
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 45 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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